


i couldn't utter it, i couldn't whisper it (my love for you was silent)

by back2the_ocean



Series: Charlie Hargreeves [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Ben Hargreeves Deserves Better, Ben Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Canon time travel, Canon typical drug use, Character Death, Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Drug Use, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Family Drama, Gen, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Past Rape/Non-con, Rape/Non-con Elements, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug, ben just wants to hug his siblings, i should probably be nicer to them honestly, its a blink and you'll miss it moment, mentions of assault, the hargreeves need some family therapy as well, they probably won't get that here, with lasting impacts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:09:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24870595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/back2the_ocean/pseuds/back2the_ocean
Summary: In one world, the young teenager hid when she abruptly found herself pregnant and she gave birth in secret, left the baby on a random doorstep, and never looked back. Unfortunately, this isn’t that world. In this world, Reginald Hargreeves finds her and takes her baby. It doesn’t end well.Number Eight!Au
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & Original Female Character(s), Ben Hargreeves & Original Female Character(s), Diego Hargreeves & Original Female Character(s), Klaus Hargreeves & Original Female Character(s), Luther Hargreeves & Original Female Character(s), Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy) & Original Female Character(s), The Hargreeves Family, Vanya Hargreeves & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Charlie Hargreeves [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799575
Comments: 28
Kudos: 75





	1. But do we really have to?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sam-Writes (Oh_DAMNeron)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oh_DAMNeron/gifts).



> All this hurt is because of my friend @Sam-Writes

The young woman gasped in pain. Her stomach hurt so much. She didn’t know what was happening and her new husband wasn’t around to help her. She started bleeding and her stomach ballooned outward. She lay back on the bed, her stomach bulging out in a massive dome, while the blood continued to seep out of her. She could do nothing but cry as she felt the urge to push.

Hours later, with an outraged and confused husband in tow, she looked up from her new daughter when she heard the knocking on the door. She had a bad feeling about it.

Only 30 minutes later, the eccentric man left with her daughter. She had just sold her daughter away.

She started to cry again.

* * *

Charlie sighed as she locked her doors. Another good day on the books. She was glad that Mr. Johnston had stopped by again - she always liked to hear from her regulars and she was glad his mother was doing better from her hip surgery. She had had a small group of young teenagers - Sam, Lena, Jonathan, Rachel, and Georgie - come through today and grab some fruit and camp out in her side room to work on their homework. She had wandered through occasionally offering help but receiving it more often than not. She could now say she knew what the mitochondria was and that apparently it was the powerhouse of the cell. Cause apparently that was a thing.

_Thanks, dad for all that stellar education you gave us._

She continued her walk through the downstairs, absentmindedly picking up Knickknack - a stray that she’s pretty sure she can’t actually classify as a stray anymore- to check up on her plants. She was encouraging them to grow bigger, to grow stronger, removing the death within them, giving them nutrients. This was truly the best part of her day. To sink herself into the Green, the living, the growth. To let herself feel the Life thrumming through the plants, through them even deeper into the Earth, and the people, and the animals.

For all the grief that these powers had given her - a father that never loved her, siblings who now hated her, missions that almost destroyed her - she couldn’t bring herself to ever hate them, not the powers, not the Green, themselves.

Not with all the good they gave her, the good she could give to other people because of them.

As she was working, the TV caught her eye. She dropped her watering can.

_**Billionaire Reginald Hargreeves Dead.** _

She couldn’t breathe. Was it actually possible that he was dead? She moved closer to the TV, reading the subtitles. She couldn’t contain her grin if she tried - which she didn’t.

Ding dong - the wicked witch was dead.

* * *

Charlie was walking. Whenever she had to come in this direction, she walked. She didn’t want to give those men any more power over her than she already had.

Now that Allison and Luther were back in New York, she knew that the funeral was going to happen today. None of them were all that comfortable staying in close quarters for all that long. They’d get the funeral done as quickly as they could so they'd be able to disperse across the country again. She’d say they only see each other for funerals and weddings but Allison was the only one married - to her knowledge anyway - and none of them had been invited to her wedding. So they really only saw each other for funerals, apparently. 

And as much as she didn’t want to be back in that house, among siblings that hated her, she did want to see Mom and Pogo again.

Also, she felt if she didn’t go, then she’d always wonder if the bastard was actually dead.

She slowed down when she saw that she was getting closer to the academy. She _really_ didn’t want to get there too early and have to deal with the entire family for longer than she had too. Not anymore.

All too soon, however, she made her way home.

 **bleh.** Too nice of a thought to have for that place.

She crept into the house and made her way into the upstairs library’s balcony. She planned to stay there until the last possible second and they could get the whole farce over with.

Laying in the upstairs library, Charlie had a front-row seat to the comings of her siblings. She had gotten here early (too early honestly) and planted herself in a dark corner then just didn’t move. At all. She had spent her teenage years learning the best way to go unnoticed amongst a group of people that spent their life in the spot life or had the utmost wish to do so. Her? She had no wish for more cameras, more attention, than what was needed.

Luther was the first. He had come down the main stairs soon after she had arrived so Charlie guessed that he was actually staying here and had arrived before she had. Diego stomped in just before lunch and immediately made his way to the kitchen (and Mom, based on what she could smell coming from the kitchen) so she had 3 guesses to what he would spend the day doing but she only needed 1 of them. Allison swanned in just after lunch and she was seen up and down the hallways. Klaus pranced in and went off on a scavenger hunt, so Charlie guessed he was looking for something to pawn for his next hit. Vanya had crept in the middle of the afternoon and Charlie could see that had set off some sparks. Allison seemed to like her presence well enough but Charlie didn’t need her hearing to know that Diego went for the soft spots when they actually interacted.

Luckily her hiding spot was good and she didn’t actually have to interact with any of them yet. She wondered how long it would take them to notice. She wondered if they would. Or if they would even care.

She finally moved from her hidden corner and laid out on a couch so as to announce her presence whenever her siblings deigned to come back to the library.

She made sure she stayed away from the area where she was injured. She wasn’t going to test fate. She also made sure that she could see all the seats in the area well enough. Most of her charade counted on her being able to read lips and guess what was happening.

As she settled down on her chosen chaise, she watched as Vanya wandered in from the atrium. Vanya glanced at her but then proceeded to ignore her as she? apparently searched out and found her book. As Pogo made his way into the room and engaged Vanya in a conversation - one centered on the book and dad’s indifference - Charlie switched her attention to Five’s weird-ass portrait.

Which was just hilarious because like hell Reggie actually cared about any of his child soldiers. Charlie always thought that he had placed that portrait (and eventually, Ben’s statue) to remind them of the ‘failures’ of the family. She didn’t believe for a second that Reggie had actually brought himself to care about any of them let alone the one he couldn’t control or the one he couldn’t stand.

“16 years, 4 months, and 14 days.”

So the subject was Five? She wasn’t really surprised - before he disappeared, Five and Vanya were almost always in each other's pockets. Her siblings had really paired off when they were young - One and Three, Two and Mom, Four and Six, and Five and Seven. She had floated between the pairs whenever she wanted really - she was well-liked between all her siblings. She always thought it was because it was hard to hate the person who kept you fed when Dad was being a dick. Charlie had tried to actually connect with any of her siblings, to form better closer relationships between them - more than what they had actually wanted to have, apparently. And when Five did disappear, she tried to be there for Vanya. She joined her during their scheduled free time, she taught herself some musical terms so she could talk to her about her violin lessons, she reached her hand out again and again. But Vanya didn’t seem all that interested in reaching back. And while she kept trying, Vanya seemed less interested as time went on.

And then her book, Extra-Ordinary, came out and apparently Vanya thought Charlie had been mocking her the entire time. She couldn’t see that Charlie, allegedly the popular sibling, was just trying to be her sister. No - Charlie was just making fun of her for missing her best friend.

* * *

“Where’s the cash, dad?”

Allison was jerked from her memories of standing here 17 years ago, wanting her dad to finally just acknowledge them for even something as little as a goodnight, by Klaus. She strode over to the ridiculous deck that dominated the room and peered at Klaus pawing through Dad’s drawers.

“Where’s the cash?”

“Klaus? What are you doing in here?”

“Oh! Allison! Wow, is that you?”

Allison could only smile as she looked at Klaus. He was, as always, one of a kind. She knew that he was only trying to get cash for his addiction but she was still charmed by him.

“Hey, come here. Long time. Too long. Hey, I was hoping to see you, actually, because I wanted to get your autograph. Add it to my collection!”

Despite the fact Klaus was mocking dad and the fact that he was dead, Allison was still smiling. She was just glad that she decided to come home. With everything that was happening with Patrick and Claire, she hadn’t been sure it was the right decision but she was enjoying herself. And with everything that was happening in LA, she knew that she wanted to reach out to her family. She wanted to be close to Luther again, her best friend, like when they were kids. She wanted her brothers - the entirety of them, Diego in his weird leather BDSM gear and Klaus with his _unique_ fashion sense and drug habits. She really wanted her sisters back as well. Loving, caring Charlie and sweet, gentle Vanya. Charlie who had tried so hard to love all her siblings. Vanya who just wanted to be seen and known by them. Allison wished she could go back in time to fix things but she couldn't. She was determined to start now, however. It might be 30 years late but she was going to make positive relationships with her siblings if she had to kill them. And really, based on previous experience, she would have too.

“Get out of his chair.”

Allison stiffened slightly as she heard Luther speak from the doorway. This was going to be the first time she saw him since she left at 17. When she turned to look at him, she was surprised to see him. He was so much larger than he was 10 years ago, almost grotesquely so. But he was still very much her best friend. 

As Klaus babbled in a panic at being caught, Allison looked Luther over. He was still the towering figure she remembered but his muscles had grown and bulged in weird spots. He also appeared to have ditched the all-black mission uniforms and even those awful Academy uniforms that dad had made them wear all the time. Instead, he was bundled up in a, frankly, ugly turtleneck, a large overcoat, and fingerless gloves. She wondered if this was normal from before the 4 years spent on the moon or if this was something that had happened because of the moon mission.

Klaus dropped his treasures and made his retreat, and Allison had to laugh. She was really glad she was home.

* * *

Luther was frustrated but not surprised. Of course, Klaus was trying to steal from Dad. Even on the day of his funeral. Pair that with Diego disregarding his thoughts on why Dad was dead - someone took his monocle and it really meant nothing to anyone outside the family, of course that implied something - and he was tired of dealing with his brothers already. It had been less than an hour - which was on point for them, honestly. 

“So, Klaus is still Klaus, in case you were wondering.”

“You know, after all these years, I find it strangely comforting.”

“Did you see Diego?”

“With his stupid outfit?”

“Oh, I know. Do you think he wears that thing in the bathroom?”

“Like in the shower?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes, Absolutely!”

As Allison laughed, Luther looked down. He was always happy when he could make her find joy. And it had been too long since they had seen each other in person. He had gone to see each of her movies, she was amazing, but they hadn’t talked since she left a decade ago. And Luther had missed his best friend. 

“I-is Charlie here? Have you seen her yet?”

Luther paused in his thoughts about how to keep the conversation going to look up at her.

“Charlie? Why do you want to talk to her? You do remember what she did, right?”

“She **did** nothing but support our other sister. **We** snapped and snarled at Charlie because we were angry with Vanya but she wasn’t there for us to do so. Charlie has, since the very beginning, been nothing but kind and loving towards all of us. She wanted nothing more than for us to actually be a family. Instead, we shot her down time and time again.”

“That book was completely awful to all of us!! And she didn’t care!”

“She cared! She cared about what was happening with Vanya that she felt like she had to write that stupid thing! And regardless of all of that - Charlie is still our sister and I want to see her!” 

Luther took a deep breath. He had forgotten that, despite the fact that Allison was his best friend, she was still his sibling and that included the ability to completely infuriate him in only a couple of words.

“I haven’t seen her yet. And I didn’t think you’d come.”

“Me either.”

* * *

The one main downside to the spot she chose was that she couldn’t see the door. On the other hand, with her laying down - people didn’t see her so they generally didn’t try to talk to her before coming in. 

Diego was the first in the room. As he came around her couch, he spotted her from the corner of his eye and his hand went automatically to his BDSM gear and the multitude of knives he kept there. It took more than a second for him to release them. Charlie raised a very judgmental eyebrow in his direction. She knew he was still thinking of using one of those things - but against her instead. She dared him to try. He flicked a look up and over her shoulder where she knew the giant ferns, trees, and vines that were placed against the inside wall were growing and moving in the nonexistent wind. He was surrounded by Green things. 

Who would be faster?

He scoffed, released his hand, rolled his eyes, and dropped into his chair by the fireplace. 

Good. At least with him choosing to ignore her, this wouldn’t progress into a fight like their family meetings usually did. 

Vanya was the next into the room and the tension racketed up again. 

Klaus was the third into the room and, other than a flippant wave of his Hello hand, ignored them to survey Dad’s very extensive liquor collection. He was kind enough to bring her a whiskey when she peered over at him. Thank God - she would definitely need the alcohol later. And she was glad to see that he was still wearing her keys around his neck. She wasn’t sure if he had ever used them but she was glad that he had kept them, nevertheless. 

Allison and Luther finished up the collection, and while it looked like Allison wanted to talk to her, Luther walked her over the seat across from Diego. He took the seat across from Vanya. His sitting down seemed like a call for the official meeting to start. He was always so dramatic.

Despite Luther apparently calling to order the meeting, nobody actually said anything for a solid couple of minutes. They were all just sitting around, pointedly not looking at one another.

“Um...I guess we should probably get this started. So I figured we could have a sort of memorial service in the courtyard at sundown. Say a few words, just at Dad’s favorite spot.”

Of course, it was Luther, the golden boy, who knew that dad had a favorite spot. Nobody else was close enough to that human icebox to know that kind of information.

“Dad had a favorite spot?”

“You know, under the oak tree. We used to sit there all the time. None of you ever did that?”

The rest of us just sort of pursed their lips and avoided looking at Luther. While it sort of wasn’t his fault that Dad was a dick and favored him over them, it still stung something awful to be reminded of that fact. 

_Fucking Dad_

Thankfully Klaus, with his usual spectacular timing, interrupted Luther.

“Will there be refreshments? Tea? Scones? Cucumber sandwiches are always a hit.” 

He looked around hopefully. Charlie decided to help him and grew some fruits and nuts near him, making a big cucumber near his seat - kinda mockingly. 

He almost flinched away before he shot her a delighted look and picked up a peach.

“Danke Schwester!”

She gave him a thumbs up and turned back to Luther cause she just knew that he was going to have some sort of fit about something that just happened.

“What? No. And put that out. Dad didn’t allow smoking in here. And get rid of the fruit. You know that Dad didn’t allow that sort of thing outside of training.”

She flipped him off and Klaus very pointedly turned around. 

“Is that my skirt?” Allison cut off whatever response might have come when she questioned Klaus’ newest fashion choice. 

“What? Oh, yeah, this. I found it in your room. It’s a little dated, I know, but very breathy on the bits. ”

Luther proved his place as Number One Ass within the next couple of minutes.

“Listen up. Still, some important things that we need to discuss, all right?”

“Like what?”

“Like the way he died.”

“And here we go.”

“I don’t understand. I thought they said it was a heart attack?”

“Yeah, according to the coroner.”

“Well, wouldn’t they know?”

“Theoretically.”

“Theoretically?”

Charlie had a bad feeling about where this conversation was going.

“I’m just saying, at the very least, something happened. The last time that I talked to Dad, he sounded strange.”

Yeah, her bad feeling about this conversation was correct. She had an idea about where he was going to go with all this lead. By the looks on her siblings’ faces, only really Diego knew where Luther was going with this. Everyone else just looked surprised.

She started to mostly ignore what they were saying. She knew that Luther was implying that one of them had killed Dad because Luther couldn’t rationalize the fact that Dad was, supposedly, human as well. That Dad could die from something just as common as a heart attack, instead of a portal to hell opening up to take him back. 

“Look, I know you don’t like to do it, but I need you to talk to Dad.”

Everyone looked at Luther in disbelief. They all knew that Klaus was high as fuck. And even if he wasn’t, there was no way he would ever want to summon that monster here.

After Klaus soundly shot down the theory of summoning Dad from his brunch with Mussolini, Stalin, and Hitler, Luther was finally ready to move on to why he suspected them of offing the old bastard.

“Then there’s the issue of the missing monocle.”

“Who gives a shit about a stupid monocle?”

“Exactly. It’s worthless. So whoever took it, I think it was personal. Someone close to him. Someone with a grudge.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Oh, isn’t it obvious, Klaus? He thinks one of us killed Dad.”

And with that, the silence fell. Or so she assumed. The looks on everyone’s faces though. She knew that none of them were extremely sad that he had died, but to have Luther accuse them of killing him? That hurt.

“You do?”

“How could you think that?”

“Great job, Luther. Way to lead.”

And with that, she was up from the couch and headed out of the room. She didn’t really feel like staying near him. For him to think, after everything that he had done, that she would kill Dad?

She knew that she shouldn’t have come here today.

* * *

_As she was walking out to the courtyard, she thought of the first mission they went on. The Capital West bank - 17 years ago. Robbers had taken hostages and were threatening them. Sir had taken them there to deal with the problem. Number Three and her had entered first, Three so she could Rumor someone and her so she could have time to spread some seeds and Grow some plants to have a base to start off from._

_As she and Three started wreaking havoc, One dropped in from the glass section of the roof and started throwing some of the robbers around. Two came in from the front and started his work with the knives. Soon she was using her Growth to help shield the hostages while Two, Three, and Four were mocking and messing with the guards near the front desk. Five dropped in with his signature sass and took down those guys._

_One was finished with his targets and was searching for some more people. He found them in the vault and she knew it was Six’s turn. He never liked any of the work but he especially hated having to release the Horrors when they could be a target. This isolation of robbers was just the kind of thing Sir would insist on Six handling._

_They finished with the robbers in the main room and she and Two released the hostages while One and Four prompted Six to finish off the people in the vault. She hoped he hurried. She was growing weary and needed some sun and sugar to regain her energy._

_After Six exited the room, she went to help him wash off the blood and to make him look more presentable. Sir was going to come down and give a speech, introducing them to the world and he wouldn’t be pleased with them if the first look at Six the world had was him covered in blood._

_After the seven of them gathered on the front steps, Sir joined them from wherever he was when they were completing the mission. He had them lined up in front of the cameras and reporters while he gave his prepared speech and answered some of their questions._

_“Our world is changing. Has changed. There are some among us gifted with abilities far beyond the ordinary. I have adopted seven such children. I give you the inaugural class of the Umbrella Academy.”_

* * *

Minutes after she sat down outside, she could feel vibrations coming from the plants closest to Luther’s room. She sat up and concentrated some more. Luther had the biggest vinyl collection in the family, and whenever Dad had to leave he’d place something on the machine and let the music play throughout the entire mansion. And it seems like he was going to continue the tradition. She wondered what was actually playing now. She’d place money on it be I Think We’re Alone Now. He usually started with that one as a signal. 

She stood up from her seat and started to sway around the courtyard. She may not be able to hear the music but that song was imprinted on her very being. It was one of the best things from their childhoods - freedom, as much as they were granted back then.

Just as she was getting into the groove, everything went suddenly dark and ominous. Lightning flashed and she could feel the thunder boom. 

She quickly went from being semi-carefree Charlie to serious, trained Number Eight. She placed herself up against one of the walls and sunk herself into the Green. A blue portal was opening up above her and she was determined to stop whatever it was here in the courtyard before it could gain ground towards the Academy. 

Her jewelry, few as it was, pulled in the direction of the portal - but most of her free attention was dragged towards the door where Number Two was exiting. She made her way towards him by routine memory. She was always near the back of the Academy - where she could see everyone and could also protect their backs. Over a decade later and it was still the position she was going to take.

Seven, One, and Three were on Two’s tail when she finally slid up to them. They quickly set up in their positions. One and Two in front, where they had the most space to move and could make up the physical wall that Three used before she could figure out who to actually Rumor. Seven was pushed into a spot so they could protect her as well. Eight stayed back a couple of steps so she’d have space to Grow. Four, who was running from the house, broke through the ranks with a fire exti-- _a fire extinguisher?!? Why?_ Which he then used on the portal to no effect. When it very obviously didn’t work, he _threw_ it into the portal.

When Eight glanced towards the portal, she saw a man. He was old and grey and she had never seen him before in her life but still. Her heart gave a particularly hard thump and she could swear she knew him. As she continued to watch him, she saw that he was screaming. And that he was getting younger? As the waves of blue were flashing over his face, he went from the original old man back through the ages, flashing back into a young teenager. After his final transformation, he fell face-first onto the ground - as he hit the ground the portal disappeared.

But before he hit, Eight could have sworn…

* * *

Fucking fuck. That _goddamn hurt._

Five was hoping that he had actually made it because he really didn’t want to have to do that sort of jump again. Nor did he want to attempt that sort of landing again.

As he slowly stood up from where he slammed face-first into the ground, Five took stock of where he was. And while he didn’t necessarily recognize them, he was reassured when one of them said,

“Does anyone else see little Number Five or is that just me?”

Then the actual words the other man uttered registered and he looked down. 

“Shit.”

* * *

Well, Eight supposed there were weirder things than their 13-year-old brother, who disappeared 17 years ago, popping up on the first day they were all together again from a glowing blue portal in the sky. 

She couldn’t think of anything weirder currently but she was sure they existed.

After they collected themselves from his reappearance, they all moved towards the kitchen, slowly trailing after Five.

She was sitting with her back to the door - half an eye on her older siblings, half an eye on her little brother, and trying to calm herself down from the absolute adrenaline rush the last 10 minutes had been.

“The 24th.”

“Of what?”

“March.”

“Good.”

“So, are we gonna talk about what just happened?”

Of course, it was Luther who started the aggressive questioning, like he didn’t remember what an absolute little shit Five was. He was going to take this line of questioning really well. 

And there they went, the tallest brother squaring up against the shortest brother. 

Despite only catching half of the conversation, she was doing her best to follow along. They were arguing - like usual - about what had happened to Five when he left. She had the hardest time tracking what Five was saying with his tendency to Jump from place to place instead of using his legs.

“- jumping through time is a toss of the dice. Nice dress.”

“Oh, well, danke!”

“Wait, how did you get back?”

“In the end, I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time”

“That makes no sense.”

“Well, it would if you were smarter.”

She had to roll her eyes. Even 17 years later and apparently some time travel, and he was still a colossal ass. Then again, her siblings made it super easy.

“How long were you there?”

“45 years. Give or take.”

Well. Holy shit. 45 years…he was 58? Well, he was always an old man in a young body. 

“Delores?”

“Guess I missed the funeral.”

“How’d you know about that?”

“What part of future do you not understand? Heart failure, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“No.”

“Hmm. Nice to see nothing's changed.”

And with that glowing review, Five left the room. She wasn’t too surprised. He never really had the temperament to stay long in voluntary family gatherings - especially when the extra-thick duo were really living it up to their title.

When Allison turned back towards the table, she assumed that Five really had left and she shifted to better face the rest of them to keep them in her sights. They were all trading looks.

“Well…”

“That was interesting.”

Idiots.

* * *

After that disaster of a full family meeting, she retreated back outside to hide amongst the Green. She most definitely didn’t want to deal with any more people bullshit than she had too and they still had to do the actual funeral. She decided that some meditating was in order and she had made it very clear years ago that to interrupt her meditating time was at their own peril. Of course, that only stopped the lower numbers but the first 4 learned quickly, for the most part.

Too soon really, the rest of her siblings and Mom joined her outside near Ben’s god-awful statue. The weather seemed to mirror the general situation with a rainstorm finally breaking. She moved to stand near Mom to share her umbrella but slowed when Diego’s hands got real close his stupid leather harness.

Instead, she felt Allison come up beside her to share her umbrella with her. She tensed slightly with the close contact but soon relaxed when she realized it was harmless. She moved a little bit closer to her and relaxed as much as she could. 

_Huh_. She still wore the perfume Charlie got her for their 17th birthday. That was…nice.

“Did something happen?”

All of them turned to Mom when she asked that. Charlie felt a pit form in the bottom of her stomach. Mom shouldn’t sound like that and she definitely shouldn’t be questioning what was happening

“Oh. yes, of course.”

Charlie really hated that look on Mom’s face. She never wanted to be the reason why it was put there and she found some more hate for Dad, because of it. 

“Yeah, yeah, she’s fine. She just needs to rest. You know, recharge.”

Pogo finally joined them outside and it signaled the start of this shebang.

“Whenever you’re ready, dear boy.”

With a look around at them, Luther took Dad’s urn and upended it...where it piled up on top of the wet ground. Gross.

“Probably would have been better with some wind.”

She only raised an eyebrow at him.

“Does anyone wish to speak?”

She aimed the flattest look she knew how to at Pogo but stayed where she was. _Does anyone wish to speak?_ Of course, she did but could she? Hardly. And none of her siblings offered.

“Very well. In all regards, Sir Reginald Hargreeves made what I am today. For that alone, I shall forever be in his debt. He was my master...and my friend and I shall miss him very much. He leaves behind a complicated legacy--”

“He was a monster. He was a bad person and a worse father. The world’s better off without him.”

“Diego.”

“My name is Number Two. You know why? Because our father couldn’t be bothered to give us actual names. He had Mom do it.”

“Would anyone like something to eat?”

“No, it’s ok, Mom.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Look, you wanna pay your respects? Go ahead. But at least be honest about the kind of man he was.”

“You should stop talking now. I'm warning you.”

And here we go, One vs Two funeral style. She was worried they weren’t going to follow their script. And of course, Diego was the one to actually start the fight. She pulled Allison back to give them some more room to try to bash each other’s heads in. She’d place money on Diego, he’d always been jealous of Luther and could fight at a distance. Luther, despite everything about him, didn’t really like fighting against the family. 

“And there goes Ben’s statue.”

Ben’s statue hit the ground with a thud that she could feel and she and Allison turned to go back inside. She had had enough of this crap. They were only in the kitchen when Luther ran past them. Vanya was close behind him. As her siblings streamed past her, she went to the cabinets. Mom always kept some cookies at hand in case any of them needed a case of pick me ups. She didn’t really know when else they would need them. And there they were - chocolate chocolate chip. She plated them and grabbed some milk and glasses. As she sat down at the table, she was surprised by the familiarity of it. They always had their assigned seats and she had just taken her normal spot.

* * *

_“Nietzsche once said, ‘Man is as a rope stretched between the animal and the superhuman. A rope of the abyss. It is a dangerous crossing, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling and halting.’”_

_After dad finished his quote, Seven blew the whistle and the rest of them started their run up the stairs. She was slower than the rest but she was reaching for the Green on the top floor. As soon as she got a good grip on it, she pulled it towards herself and used it to pull herself up. As she was rapidly going up, she saw the tell-tale sign of Five’s Teleporting._

_“That’s not fair, Five and Eight are cheating!”_

_“They adapted.”_

* * *

_She felt bad for her siblings, but she was loving the feel of the tattoo gun. It was a very soothing feeling. But she could see her siblings were hurt from their tattoos or were scared for their turns. She wished that they could like it more or that they didn’t have to get one._

* * *

After she sat down with her cookies and milk, Diego led Mom past them - probably towards her charging station. He barely glanced at her and she told him - using her face alone - to fuck right off. She was almost ready to fight him.

Klaus flounced in and sat at the head of the table. He grabbed a couple of cookies from her plate and then drank her milk. She just frowned at him prompting him to flap his Hello hand. With a roll of her eyes, she just refilled their glass. Soon afterward, Five came in and started going through all the cabinets.

“Where’s Vanya?”

“Oh, she’s gone.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“Yeah.”

“An entire square block. 42 bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, but no, not a single drop of coffee. And you can shut up.”

He pointed at her and her raised eyebrow. She only shrugged and made a point to use her eyes to point out the fact he was 13 again.

He just rolled his eyes back at her.

“Dad hated caffeine.”

“Well, he hated children, too, and he had plenty of us.”

She really hated to admit that Klaus was right.

“I’m taking the car.”

“Where are you going?”

Both she and Five turned to stare incredulously at Klaus. He was just talking about not having any coffee. Where else was he going to go?

“To get a decent cup of coffee.”

“Do you even know how to drive?”

“I know how to do everything.”

He made another face back at her, cause like hell he knew how to do everything.

The arrogant ass. And then he was gone.

“But then again, I also just kinda want to see what happens.”

“All right, I guess I’ll you guys in, what, ten years? When Pogo dies? You, hopefully, longer still. Or never.”

Diego made his way into the room talking and pointed at her at the end of his sentence. She flipped him off and leaned back in her chair.

“Not if you die first.”

“Yeah, love you too, sis.”

“Good luck on your next film. Hope it turns out better than your marriage, huh?”

She kicked at his ankles for that asshole comment. He flinched back from her and went for his harness. She steadied herself and narrowed her eyes. But then Allison left back into the house and Diego and Klaus went out towards the back door.

She just leaned back in her and closed her eyes. She was so fucking tired of being in this stupid house. She finally decided to just leave. There was nothing, well almost nothing, left for her in this place. 

She stood up and washed her dishes, then went to find Mom. She didn’t want to leave before she said hi and bye to her. 

As she was walking through the main lobby, she saw Mom’s shadow on the upper levels. As she reached the top of the stairs, she looked around and saw Mom sitting at her charging station. She made her way over to her and sat down next to her. 

She held onto Mom’s hand and they sat together staring at her paintings. This, this right here, the calm evenings with Mom, were her favorite parts of this house. She studied Mom’s paintings. She did have some pretty ones. But she knew Mom’s favorite was the portrait of the young lady in the black dress. She sat with Mom until her eyes started to flash blue, signaling her recharging.

She stood up, gave Mom a kiss on her forehead, and left the house.

* * *

She arrived home and she could finally relax. Once she was in through the front door, she locked it and slid to the floor. That was...exhausting. She sincerely wished her siblings long lives so she didn’t have to see them again, soon. Knickknack climbed up into her lap. She started to comb her fingers through their fur. She really should take her to get checked out soon, cause she was pretty sure she’d been adopted by this grey cat.

She heaved a sigh and stood up sometime later. She felt like she’d feel better if she completed her evening routine. She grabbed the watering hose, tucked Knickknack up on her shoulder, and started her circle around the store. The Green and Growing would help settle her down. Maybe some actual supper and then a rosewater and lavender bath before she went to bed.

When Knickkack rubbed her head against her chin, she took that as an agreement that it was a good plan.

Hopefully, things were going to go back to normal in the next couple of days.


	2. Run Back Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> brief mention of assault in the last line of the second section.

After Charlie finished everything she needed too downstairs, she turned off the lights and headed to the apartment upstairs. Knickknack was nipping at her heels so she guessed that it meant they were hungry. Greedy little thing didn’t like the generic cat food she had downstairs for the actual stray cats that came through her doors, not for Knickknack. No, they wanted the good stuff she starting keeping upstairs for them. 

When she got up to her kitchen, she refilled the small water and food bowls she had taken to keeping out for this exact reason. After she was sure Knickknack was content, she started on her own dinner.

When everything was finished cooking, she platted everything, poured herself a generous sized glass of wine, and moved to her bathroom. One full bathtub later, and she was satisfied. This was she needed after today - which she actually classified as successful. No one else had died, there was very little maiming, and only a little asshole like behavior. Her siblings were really on their best behavior today.

As she finished her dinner, she leaned back into the tub and just floated. She liked to float because it allowed her the illusion that her hearing was only muffled from the water and not just completely gone. It was one of the few things she could do to make herself feel better about it.

* * *

_Charlie’s ears rang. Everything else hurt, though. She had never been in the middle of a fight between Luther and Diego before and she wasn’t planning on doing it again. One dodged punch left her flying across the room._

_Pogo had helped her up and out of the room. Left sitting on the main stairs, Pogo went to find Grace to patch up her cuts. She waited for him to turn the corner to the kitchen before she got up and walked out the doors. She had moved out of the Academy years ago, and while Dad wasn’t currently home, she didn’t want to risk it - staying in the Academy longer than she already had._

_She was only back because Luther had called a Family Meeting to talk about what they should do about Vanya’s book. It had spilled a lot of personal and security details about the Academy and Luther wanted to have a discussion on their options for getting it taken off the shelves or discredited._

_Charlie knew she only really came to see that her brothers were still alive - Luther was easy to watch what with the missions he was still running for Dad. He was still in the news if you knew what to watch for. Diego was also semi-easy to find. His vigilante activities were not the best-kept secret and Charlie had enough people from the streets come through the store that were willing to admit they saw the ‘Off-brand Batman’ slinking about most nights. It was mostly Klaus that she had trouble keeping track of - and he was the one she was most worried about. Although she helped feed a lot of the people who called the streets home, she wasn’t one of them so they hesitated in telling her anything about one of their own. Charlie had only barely managed to track him down after she opened The Flower Shop. She figured that Ben was still haunting him - in the literal sense - and she hoped that Ben was still there even if Klaus was high. She wanted Klaus to have a set of keys to her building - both the apartment on the top floor and the main shop floors that she had stocked with homeless supply bags and had access to the Tree. The Tree was her greatest Growth. A massive 2 story tree ripe with all the fruits, veggies, and nuts that she could get seeds for, the Tree helped feed the people who came through her store. She allowed most people to take a piece or two for free but allowed the homeless and hard-hit people to come in before or after her official hours to take as much as they wanted. And while she did like helping those who needed it, she mostly had the idea so she might be able to make sure Klaus was doing ok. After she had been open for a while without seeing him, Charlie had made copies of her keys, spent 2 weeks tracking him through various dealers, johns, and the homeless, and slipped them on a chain around his neck while telling Ben, hopefully, what the keys were for and where the shop was located._

_But now Luther had called a Family Meeting for the siblings still in town._

_So Charlie had put on her big girl panties and made the trip home._

_She had known before that Allison wasn’t going to be coming - the latest gossip magazines put her in New Zealand for her newest movie - and she guessed that Vanya wouldn’t be welcomed or even invited to the meeting that was for talking about her fuck up. Luther would obviously be there - he called the meeting - but she wasn’t sure about her other 2 living brothers. Diego might not come just because it was Luther who called the meeting. He might also come cause he wanted the Book gone. Klaus was iffy. If Luther even got a hold of him, if he was sober enough to come, if he remembered it was today…Charlie believed he’d come if only to gather stuff to steal and sell._

_She didn’t know if she really wanted to be the only voice of reason amongst her brothers. Klaus would be angry but he wouldn’t really voice it to anyone except flippantly - jokingly. Diego would be furious at Vanya but he’d also want to disagree with everything that Luther would say. And Luther would be angry that nobody was agreeing with him straight up, he’d be annoyed by Klaus’ thrifty fingers and Diego’s attitude._

_Apparently she had been right to be cautious about returning home. No one wanted to hear her theories about why Vanya would write the book. Nor did they even want to talk about her. And Charlie’s insistence on talking about her got on Luther and Diego’s nerves - on top of each other. It had erupted into a fistfight fairly quickly. She was the only one in the house who could step in and stop them. It was to her detriment, however. One of them threw a punch, the other one dodged it, and she caught it in the head. It had sent her flying into the wall near the doors. She felt Pogo help her to her feet and let him lead her out of the library and sat down against the stairs._

_She sighed._

_While this was the first time most of them were together, she knew that they no longer wanted her there._

_Apparently, supporting your sister in an obvious cry for help was enough for them to cut the ties between her and them. She really shouldn’t be as surprised as she was. Throughout their childhood, the higher numbers were a close-knit group with Diego occasionally dropping them to cling to Mom, Klaus and Ben were attached at the hip, and Five and Vanya orbited each other more often than not. She just floated between all of them as needed or wanted. They were not as close as she wanted them to be so the fact that they felt comfortable enough to do that? to shut her out like they did - it hurt but she shouldn’t be so surprised._

_But then Five disappeared, Vanya shut everyone out, Ben died, Klaus dove headfirst into the drugs he had only been flirting with before, and that was it for her. She waited it out till she was 17, storing up cash and items to sell, then was third to actually leave. Klaus bolted just after they all turned 16. Allison left the night before they turned 17. She left the morning after their birthday. She knew that Vanya left soon after her and that Diego held out longer than she thought he would. She knew that Luther would never actually leave. And she was right. They were full adults and here Luther was, still sprouting dad’s words as his own._

_Once she was sure that Pogo was gone, she left the house slowly. She now really understood how little she was wanted there and between the missions, the meal-time tapes, and the first-aid lessons she had been taking lately, she felt confident enough to say that she could treat herself at home._

_But her ears wouldn’t stop ringing. And it was getting worse._

_She had decided to walk home, to help her clear her head - she didn’t want to believe any of the things that her siblings had said._

_Her ears hurt._

_The farther she got from the Academy, the worse the surroundings got. But her store and apartment were cheap because of the reputation of the area._

_As she was passing through the last alley before she got to her street, she failed to notice the figures standing in the shadows._

_Her ears were ringing, there was a hand covering her mouth, and an arm across her waist._

* * *

It was as she was getting out of the tub that she felt the disturbance. 

She was always connected to the Green in her apartment when she was close enough, she could use it as a safety blanket because it allowed her to get a better sense of who was around her when she couldn’t hear them. And her sense was telling her that there was someone now in the living room.

She finished drying off and slipped on her robe, then went to see who was bothering her this late at night. She had a pretty good guess on who it was already because she hadn’t felt any of the windows or the door open.

As she stepped into her living room, she took a glance around and saw him going through her kitchen. Her best guess? He was still looking for coffee. She went to grab it for him. 

As she was reaching for it; Five stepped up next to her, covered her eyes, and stopped her. A few seconds later, he dropped his hand and she saw he was frowning at her. Then he started to sign at her.

_**What happened? Why can’t you hear? How bad is the loss?** _

She frowned at him, debating on whether or not she actually wanted to talk about this with him. But she guessed that his time in the future only made him more stubborn, not less.

_**Bad. The hearing is a complete loss. So is the voice.** _

At that, he switched his focus to her throat. She grabbed his hand and ran it along the scar that took her voice years ago. It was very well hidden underneath her butterfly tattoo and most people couldn’t even see it when they knew to look. Five tilted her head back and crowded her so he could get a closer look and then his eyes finally seemed to catch the extreme color that lined both her arms, her collarbone, and her throat. He shook his head and that seemed to drag him back into focus.

_**But what happened?** _

_**It was an accident that led to an attack years ago.** _

They proved they were siblings when the next part of their conversation happened entirely with their eyebrows. His was telling her to give him the complete story and hers was telling him to forget about it.

_**So complete hearing loss and mute, huh? And the others don’t know do they? You kept them in your sights all day.** _

_**You don’t have to keep signing. I can read lips extremely well. As long as you’re facing me.** _

“And the others? Do they know?”

_**No. It happened after Vanya’s book. They weren’t very appreciative that I supported Vanya writing that thing and they almost completely shut me out afterward. I do believe today is the first day that they’ve seen me since.** _

“They’ve seen you? So you’ve seen them?”

_**Occasionally, yes. I try to go to Vanya’s concerts when I can. I've gotten called to help Klaus at rehab and the hospital a few times, sometimes I’ll post Diego’s bail, I've seen all of Allison’s movies. But no - I don’t think they realize that it's been me helping them.** _

“Idiots.”

_**What did you want Five? Not that I’m not happy to have you here - you’re always welcome here and to everything I have - but you seemed like you were in a hurry earlier.** _

Here he paused. Charlie could see the conflict in his eyes. She only raised an eyebrow at him. She wasn’t letting him leave without some kind of answer.

He sighed, sat down on her couch, and started his story about the results of his time travel and the end of the world he ended up in. 

As she focused on his words, she really wished she had more to drink than her single glass of wine.

When it seemed like he was done, she asked him,

_**What can I do to help?** _

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I don’t even know what I’m looking for really,” he heaved a giant sigh and pulled something from his pocket. “This was in Luther’s hand, in the end. It’s been my only clue all these years. My plan right now is to head to this company and find who owns it now.”

He opened his hand to show her a false eye.

_**An eye? Well, I don’t believe I’ll be much help getting your information but you know where to find me when you need some manpower. And you can sit right back down. I don’t care how old you actually are or how old you look. You’ve been on the move all day and probably even longer than that. I guarantee you that the company isn’t going to be open right now. It's midnight. So, I'm going to make you some dinner, you're going to take a shower, and then you’re going to get some sleep. When you inevitably wake up before me, you’re going to take some food for breakfast - not just coffee. Do you understand me you little shit?** _

He frowned at her but Charlie could see that she was making sense to him. He, reluctantly, nodded his head and stood up. She pointed to her bathroom and made her way back to her kitchen. He needed protein and energy, plus she was going to make him some easy breakfast or she knew that he would only make some coffee before he split. 

She knew she had been correct by the look on his face when she showed him the breakfast sandwiches on the top shelf of her fridge. She just flicked his ear, trapped him in a quick hug, and planted the most obnoxious kiss she could on his temple. She laughed when he put up a minimal struggle but allowed him to push her away.

_**Those sandwiches better be gone when I get up tomorrow. And if you take my blue mug, you won’t have to worry about the apocalypse cause I’ll kill you myself. Let me know when I can be of any help. Goodnight Five… I’m really glad you’re back.** _

“Goodnight,” he told his dinner more than her but she’d take it.

She threw a couple of blankets and pillows on the couch, then she finally left for her bedroom.

As she completed her evening routine, she heaved a sigh and resigned herself to a busy week filled with her siblings. And she thought she could get away with just a day of them.

* * *

_She was first to the dinner table, coming as she had from the kitchen. She had helped Mom with dinner tonight, growing the vegetables fresh for tonight’s roast. As she took her spot between Ben and Vanya, Charlie took a second to listen to what survival tape they would be listening to tonight. Climbing? Interesting and a step sideways from the underwater fighting from yesterday._

_Her siblings finally finished their parade into the lower dining room and they all waited for Father to allow them to sit and start dinner. When he finally told them to sit, all that could be heard was the scrape of the silverware against the dishes and chewing._

_But there was a tense feeling to the meal and it seemed to be coming from across the table from Five. She subtly watched her siblings. Luther and Allison seemed to be wrapped up with each other. Diego had a knife in his hand and was carving something into the arm of his chair. Klaus was focused on his joint, a recent addition that seemed to help him calm the ghosts that haunted him. Ben was reading the new book that she had got him. Vanya seemed to be going over her newest violin piece, something fast based on her faint humming. But Five was staring, intently, torn between his meal and Father._

_And she saw the moment that it finally boiled over._

_He stabbed his knife down into the table and glared at Father._

_“Number Five?”_

_“I have a question.”_

_“Knowledge is an admirable goal, but you know the rules. No talking during mealtimes. You are interrupting Herr Carlson.”_

_“I want to time travel.”_

_“No.”_

_“But I’m ready. I’ve been practicing my spatial jumps, just like you said. See?”_

_While his first outburst had garnered the attention of everyone at the table when Father told him no, most everyone went back to their previous activities. Most didn’t even look up when Five Jumped to Father’s side._

_She kept her focus on him. He was extremely serious this time. She could see it in the lines of his body. He was going to Jump today - regardless of what Father told him. Vanya tensed up beside her and she knew Vanya sensed the seriousness of the moment as well._

_“A spatial jump is trivial when compared with the unknowns of time travel. One is like sliding along the ice, the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn.”_

_“Well, I don’t get it.”_

_“Hence the reason you’re not ready.”_

_“I’m not afraid.”_

_“Fear isn’t the issue. The effects it might have on your body, even on your mind, are far too unpredictable. Now, I forbid you to talk about this anymore. Number Five! You haven’t been excused!”_

_While he did glance at the rest of us, most of his attention was on Vanya but even she wasn’t enough to stop him. He had chosen his path._

_Charlie heard the front door open and that was the last they saw of Five._

* * *

Diego dropped Klaus off at a 24-hour diner and made his way to Griddy’s. This was just what he needed - some normal crime to get his head away from his family. He’d rather have to deal with humanity’s messed up behavior than try to wrap his head around his family and their crap.

 _God_. Diego just shook his head. He just wanted to get back into his normal routine where he could get scumbags off the street and not have to see or talk to any of his siblings. Including Klaus for right now - although he was his closest sibling, Diego could only take small doses of him at a time.

Unfortunately, he had the feeling that he wasn’t done with them yet. 

However, for the time being, he was going to focus on this murder scene and the faint hope he’d seen Eudora again.

He slid his way around the cops already on the scene to get inside. He wanted to talk to the worker that was in the building during the attack and hear what she had to say.

“Ma’am? I have a couple of early questions for you about the attack. Do you think you could answer a few of them?”

She only gave a faint nod, but that was enough for him. He started off with his usual questions, trying to get the shape of what had happened. 

It was after he got most of his questions answered that he saw Eudora arrive on the scene. He thanked Agnes for her help and slid out the back door. He didn’t want her to see him too soon. She might actually shoot him if he was the first thing in her sight.

* * *

Ben was reading his book and sitting on a chair in the downstairs library, so he knew when Klaus was coming around. It was always hard to tell when Klaus was finally sober enough to believe that Ben was real. But when Klaus jerked up Ben figured he was good.

“You know you talk in your sleep?”

“Oh...Oh…”

“There’s no point, you’re out of drugs.”

He got more comfortable in his seat. He knew that Klaus couldn’t take no for an answer so he would be searching for something else to take. Either some kind of drug or something from the house he could pawn off.

“Shut your piehole, Ben. Said with love.”

Ben only rolled his eyes. As much as he wanted better for Klaus, Ben knew it wasn’t going to happen today. He could still try though.

“I’ve got a crazy idea. Why not try starting your day with...a glass or orange juice or some eggs?”

That had always been his favorite meal growing up, other than their Birthday Breakfast.

“Can’t smoke eggs. One of these has gotta be gold-plated right?”

As Klaus jumped from Pogo appearing in the doorway, Ben smiled to himself. It would serve him right. Then Pogo told Ben, inadvertently, that Klaus had already stolen from dad. Ben only heaved a sigh. Of course he had. Ben was only curious that Pogo was so worried about just a single box. 

“Sorry.”

“Liar.”

“Drop Dead.”

“Low blow.”

“Would you shut up!”

“Excuse me?”

Ben laughed to himself. He loved getting Klaus in trouble like that. Obviously people couldn’t see him, and so when he could get Klaus to utter things like drop dead or shut up, the people surrounding Klaus believed that he was speaking to them. 

When he heard Pogo tell Klaus that he wouldn’t worry about the actual box if he got the contents of said box, Ben could suddenly foresee his future. It involved following Klaus’ steps from yesterday and probably a lot of dumpster diving.

Fun.

Ben started to ignore whatever antics Klaus was getting up too and thought back to yesterday. He was extremely glad that Klaus had made the decision to attend the funeral. Ben knew that it was going to be hard and that there was a very high chance that Klaus would be hitting some of the extreme drugs again soon but Ben was still happy he got to see his siblings. It had been too long. He wasn’t very surprised by Luther or Diego - not much had changed with them aside from Luther’s inexplicable growth spurt but they were at their cores still Numbers One and Two. But it was his sisters he was excited to see. Ben was glad to see that motherhood had mellowed Allison out somewhat. He was really happy that she now had someone who she could give her unconditional love to. She was always better when she could love someone like that. 

It had been over a decade since Ben had seen Vanya - he left with Klaus when they were 17 and the only other time that either of them had seen any of their siblings were at the Family Meeting about Vanya’s book or the one time Charlie had tracked them down with keys for Klaus. But despite the time separating their meeting, Vanya was just the same as she had ever been. Small, hunched into herself so the attention wouldn’t be on her, quiet so no one would hear her. Ben had hoped it would have gotten better through the years but as it was, Vanya looked the same. Charlie though - she had gone through quite a transformation. She had shot up from their teenage years - she could almost be mistaken for Klaus except for her hair, she was so much quieter than she had ever been, and was sporting quite a collage of colorful tattoos spanning across her arms and collarbone. He wished he could have talked to her about them - he knew she didn’t mind it so much when they got their umbrella tattoo when they were young but he never would have thought she’d go for the full sleeves let alone a throat tattoo. And Five! Ben was ecstatic to see that their missing brother was in fact just missing and not dead like they had feared for so many years. He was still the short sarcastic rude little shit that had ran out the door to time travel, now he just had apparently close to 50 years of trauma.

Ben wished for a lot of things following yesterday but most of all he wished that he could have held and helped his sibling through the years. Everyone in this entire family could use a goddamn hug and Ben wanted to be the one to give them one.

* * *

As Vanya woke up, she wondered about what Five talked about last night. She didn’t know whether or not she believed him. She didn’t think she did. If he was gone for so long, who knew what had happened to him in that time. She got up out of bed, composing questions for Five as she went, and left her bedroom for the living room. She wanted to believe Five but she had a lot of questions for him before she could.

“Hey, Five.”

She wished she could say she was shocked that Five didn’t stay but she wasn’t. Why would anyone stay for her? 

He didn’t even sit on the couch.

* * *

Five finished the last of his breakfast and stood to take care of his dishes. He didn’t want to leave a pile of dishes that Charlie had to take care of when she finally woke. She had given him a bed for the night, food to eat, and allowed him to use her shower. Plus she was a good listener - not that she could hear anymore.

Five had to shallow down a rush of anger. He had only spent an hour with her yesterday and he knew almost right away that she was deaf. And according to Charlie she had been deaf for years and not one of their other siblings knew. If he had more time, he would knock some of their hard heads together and hope that it might knock of sense into them. He decided to add that to the list right after ending the apocalypse. 

When all the dishes were put away, he grabbed the eye and the directions Charlie had written out for him, then left for Merritech. As much as he wanted to stay here and continue their conversation from last night, he had a mission and he wasn’t going to pause it any longer.

The white walls and large glass windows were annoying. They allowed a lot of light in but they also posed a very big security risk. He could think of half a dozen different ways he could use the floor plan for his own advantage right off the top of his head and he wasn’t even putting much thought into it. He was only out here in the reception area because he was waiting for a doctor to approach him. 

“Uh, can I help you?”

“I need to know who this belongs too.”

“Where did you get that?”

“Why do you care?”

Five was annoyed yet again that he got the calculations wrong. Almost everything that he’d done in the last 24 hours would be so much easier if was even just 5 years older. But he had to be stuck in his young teenage body. 

_Ugh._

But this time he decided to try to use it to his advantage. Most people would like to help some young man help return an eye that was lost. He could really play up that angle and try to get some sympathy help that way.

“I want to return it to its rightful owner.”

“Aww. What a thoughtful young man,” the sectary just proved his point.

Five should have known that it wouldn’t be that easy. Of course, the doctor would use patient confidentiality to try and take the eye away from him.

And then he might have let his building irritation out and he might have been a little rough with the moronic doctor who was standing in his way for the information that could help save the end of the world. 

_He needed a goddamn drink._

When they started calling for security, he just shoved the doctor away and left. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy.

He needed a new plan.

* * *

When Charlie woke up that morning, she laid in bed for a while, thinking about everything that had happened just in the last 24 hours. Dad’s death, family reunions, the looming apocalypse. She didn’t know what she was going to do about any of it but she knew she was going to help Five in any way that she thought she could. He seemed to have an idea of what needed to actually happened. That was better than Charlie who had no clue what was happening.

She reached out for the Green when she was finally ready to get up for the day. There was nobody other than her in the apartment but she could sense that Zara was opening the shop downstairs. She had to remember to talk to him this morning. With everything that she could sense was about to happen she had to let Zara know so he could take on more responsibilities within the store. She didn’t think she would have enough time to play a mediator between her siblings, help Five with whatever he had in mind, and manage her store at the same time. 

Zara was a good friend, however, and he was used to her leaving most of the actual running of the store to him. She just had to let him know that he was dealing with everything for the next week or so.

Plans already running through her head, she got up out of her bed and made her way to her bathroom. Shower, food, and then she’d start adulting for the day.

She was happy to see that the breakfast she had made for Five was gone though. He might have been so much older then she was but she was glad that she could give him even a little bit of help.

After her conversation with Zara, she left for the Academy again. If she knew Five, he would be using it as a home base for his operation this week. And though she didn’t really want to spend more time in that cursed place, she did want to show Five that she meant it when she said she’d help him. Thus - her plan to camp out at the Academy for the next week.

When she finally saw the Academy doors, she slowed. Vanya was entering the main doors and after their last conversation - even if it was years ago - she didn’t want to crowd her. Vanya had made her opinion of Charlie very clear and even as much as she loved her siblings, she wasn’t going put herself through unnecessary pain.

Charlie knew if she gave Vanya a couple of minutes head-start, they wouldn’t run into each other. And she was right, having reached for the Green to track the people within the house. Vanya had made her way up through the hallways, brushing against the various vines lining the doorways, windows, and railings throughout the Academy. She could sense that Five was in his room, Allison was moving about near the kitchen with Mom, and Pogo was just leaving his room.

Father had made her Grow them for her training, having her use them to track her siblings - she first started with them all in one group but by the end Charlie could track all 5 (living) siblings, Mom, Father, and Pogo through the house without much thought or issue. 

She still used that ability still - so she might be able to have a somewhat thankful thought to dear old Reggie. Maybe.

Charlie entered the house through the front doors and made her way to the bedrooms. She was ready to duck into any of the open rooms if any of her siblings but Five came along - she might have resigned herself to dealing with them for the week but she wasn’t going to hang around them longer than she had to.

* * *

Five had made his way back to his room at the Academy. After his failure at MerriTech, he needed to regroup and to come up with a new plan of attack. And then he had an idea. 

It was a horrible one but it might just actually work. 

He’d use Klaus.

…he was already regretting this decision.

He found Klaus wandering around the upper floors and dragged him back to the bedrooms. He wanted to remove all possible distractions from Klaus’ eyesight so they could get through the conversation in relatively short order. 

“You’re going to help me with something this morning.”

“I am?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“I’ll pay you.”

“And what will I be helping you with?”

“Go put on something professional!”

Five left Klaus alone in his room so he could change into something more professional and less… _Klaus_.

He was pacing the hallway when he heard Vanya calling for him from the front room. He Moved back into his room and shoved Klaus into his closet when he heard Vanya come up the staircase closest to their bedrooms. He didn’t want to worry her. She was ordinary and he didn’t want to burden her more than he had already - he knew she didn’t believe him. Not like Charlie had.

He would have brought her with him but she both wasn’t here and he would need someone who could hear and speak.

“Oh thank god. I was worried sick about you.”

“Sorry about leaving without saying goodbye.”

He kept the conversation going as he worked on the plan for the next part of his day. He needed that information about the eye. He needed to know who was going to cause the apocalypse. He needed to stop them to save his family.

…she wanted him to see a therapist?

He went to close the door after Vanya left - he didn’t want her to be able to hear the end of the conversation with Klaus.

“That’s so…touching, all that stuff about family and Dad and time! Wow!”

He was regretting his choice of siblings again - even more than before.

“Would you shut up? She’ll hear you!”

“I’m moist.”

“I told you to put on something professional.”

“What? This is my nicest outfit.”

That was his nicest outfit? It looked like a clown puked onto a shirt and called it fashion. He only sighed and rolled his eyes. 

“We’ll raid the old man’s closet.”

“As long as I get paid.”

“When the job is done.”

When Klaus continued to talk, his regret just grew and grew. He wished that he had a better choice - he was almost tempted to track down Charlie and make do with her.

Which of course meant she came from her bedroom right as he was leaving Klaus in the hallway.

* * *

Charlie was very tempted to laugh. The look on Five’s face when she popped out of her room…

She almost started signing at him when she spotted Klaus coming up from behind him. She knew that he was in the house and was even in Five’s room earlier but she hadn’t put it together - that they would be working together.

She dropped her hands and raised an eyebrow at Five. His response was only a sigh and a shrug. 

“Schwester!”

She accepted Klaus’ hug but continued to watch Five over his shoulder. He had something planned.

“Klaus is helping me with something, Charlie. I’ll stop by your apartment later. A smaller group is going to be better for this.”

She released Klaus and nodded at Five. Running a hair through her hair, she placed a kiss on both her brothers’ cheeks and went to leave the Academy. She knew that Five had a better idea about what needed to be done at Merritech so if he thought that Klaus was going to be able to help him more than she could she’d believe him.

She’d grill him all about it later but she’d believe him for now.

As she turned to go down the staircase she came up - she paused. She felt Allison and Vanya were on the landing beneath her. That was where the phone was - she made a guess and thought Allison might be calling her family back in California. Charlie had seen her pregnant in some magazines a couple of years ago but really didn’t know much more than that.

Charlie was weighing her options - hide out in her room until Allison was away from the phone (Charlie didn’t think she’d like an audience for her phone call) or just power her way through it - when Allison came up the stairs in her direction, making her choice for her.

Charlie frowned - Allison looked upset. She chose to lean against the wall out of Allison’s way - that way she could stop and they could talk or Allison could ignore her and go on her way.

* * *

Allison made her way back to her bedroom to unpack. Patrick and the courts made it clear that she couldn’t see her daughter yet so what was the point of going home? And she needed something to do to calm herself down after her talk with Vanya. How could she say that Allison was better off here in New York away from her daughter? And to still be blaming everything on Dad? After all these years? She needed to grow up.

Allison was halfway down the hallway to her room when she noticed her other sister staring at her.

She flinched back, “How long have you been there?”

Charlie just pointed to Five and Klaus leaving in the opposite direction. Allison frowned at their backs - she wasn’t sure leaving those 2 to their own devices was the best plan but she supposed there wasn’t much she could do beyond Rumoring them. She turned back to Charlie and shook her head.

“Whatever they get up to isn’t my fault. And I’ll see you later - I decided to stay longer to help get things in order with Dad’s affairs.”

Allison turned away from Charlie before she could start her response. As much as she did want to see her family again - she wanted a cooler head (and probably a cigarette) before she attempted to talk to any of them again.

* * *

As the Taxi drove him away from Klaus, Five had to admit it wasn’t the worst decision he’d ever made inviting Klaus to MerriTech. He had an excellent poker face and was good at improv - if only it wasn’t just because he wanted drug money. But that was about the only good thing to happen today.

What was he going to do now? The only clue he had - the one thing that he kept on him to keep going through the years was completely useless still. A week until the apocalypse and he was no closer to stopping it then he was when he first Jumped.

He knew that he said he’d visit Charlie to explain to her his plans and what he did today but there was something else that he had to do - Charlie would understand.

But he needed to find Delores and he thought it would take a while to track down where she was living before the end. He knew vaguely where they found each other but with all the living people still walking about plus everything still in one piece…he thought that it might take all day to narrow his search. 

He’d visit Charlie when he was done.

* * *

Allison took a deep breath as Pogo left the room. This was weird as hell - watching old security camera footage of her and her sibling growing up but it was exactly what she needed.

She watched a couple of different screens, trying to match the video with her memories - here she and Luther made lunch and ate it together after she spent the morning Rumoring him. Here Ben and Charlie were reading in the library. Here Diego was trying to hit moving targets. Here Klaus was painting her fingernails. There Vanya was playing her violin alone in the study. 

They were all so young - and small! She couldn’t remember ever being that small.

She wished she had more than security videos to remind her of their childhood but she’d make due.

When she got up to find another video to insert, one on top of the TV bank caught her attention.

When she finally started it up, she had to gasp. 

_This changed everything_.

* * *

_Five just looked around. He could hear nobody around him. There was only death and destruction and falling ash as far as he could see. There was no more Academy. But maybe there was still a chance that his siblings were still alive…_

_As he looked around what was left of his home, he spotted a hand holding a false eye with the body buried under a pile of rubble. When he walked over to grab the eye, he leaned over to see if he could recognize the man holding it. It almost looked like…but it couldn’t be. He wouldn’t…_

_Five leaned back and stood up to continue to look around. He was determined to find other bodies or even some living people. When he spotted another body through some ruined rebar, Five blinked harshly - the ash was getting into his eyes pretty bad._

_When he was close to his bro- to the body, he tried to shake him awake. That scar almost reminded him of- but then he spotted another body buried in the rubble. She looked like she was around the same age as the other two…she looked like Allison._

_His sighed almost sounded like a sob. Because if this was Allison - it couldn’t be it wasn’ **t not his family not them not them not them** \- then Diego and Luther were also dead. _

_Five pulled himself together. He didn’t have to panic or worry because of course they weren’t his siblings. It couldn’t be._

_He stood up and moved to try to find where his actual siblings were resting. Obviously, they had worn themselves out trying to stop whatever this was and now they were just resting and regrouping to figure out what to do after. Obviously these dead bodies weren’t his siblings._

_He froze when he rounded a broken corner of the building. There was another body lying face down in the rubble but this one was the worst. He could no longer dismiss the resemblance he was spotting._

_This body was sporting the distinct umbrella tattoo that only 7 people had. This was one of his brothers. This was Klaus. The other three were Allison, Luther, and Diego. He only turned his head a little but then he spotted the giant garden overtaken the back of the house. It was really the only spot of color that he could see. And right in the middle was a wave of vibrant red hair. Charlie…_

_He spent the next couple of hours trying to find his missing brother and sister to no luck. They weren’t anywhere he could see._

_He continued to stifle his sobs as he buried his siblings. He couldn’t just leave them in the open like they were. He needed to care for them now._

_One, Two, Three, Four, and Eight…when he was done with burying them he just sat down next to them._

_He looked up at the sky. He didn’t think that it could rain like it was currently._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! but the temperature spiked and that stopped all creativity from me - I am not made to handle the extreme heat we're experiencing where I live. Plus I picked up some more hours at work...
> 
> you can find me at my Tumblr @ thewavereturnstotheocean - come talk to me - yell at me about the Hargreeves plus I've made some character edits all about these siblings that we all love!


	3. Bad Luck This Family Has

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> episode 3 part 1

Vanya was heading home from practice — still riding the high she got from the successful run from today’s piece. She was crossing the street on her last leg of the journey when the window display from the bookstore caught her attention. It wasn’t the Umbrella Academy Comics - she had seen them all when they first came out — they weren’t all that special really. 

No — what had caught her attention was the bright red typewriter sitting above them. It was an idea that had been brewing in her mind for a while — something her therapist had said to her.

And seeing it sit above the stories of her siblings — she decided she was going to do it. She was going to tell the world her story. She wanted to finally be heard.

* * *

Charlie was laughing at Zara, a common occurrence nowadays, when the bookstore caught her attention. She paused her walking, allowing Zara to outpace her for a moment before he doubled back. 

Vanya’s young face stared back her from a hundred copies of a book — that she apparently wrote. 

Charlie stepped inside the store and bought four — she’d drop off ones for her brothers before she went home for the evening to start reading her own.

* * *

Charlie ended up throwing the book across her apartment. How dare Vanya write that that that awful crap! She had dug deep into their childhood and had thrown every dirty little secret that the Academy had to the wolves. 

The only things that weren’t in her little book were the things that she didn’t know — mission statements and one on one conversations. But all the little tortures from their childhoods — the casual cruelties — were now being read by anyone who picked up a copy of her book. 

All of the ways dad used to train them, the ways he’d set them up against each other, the way he was never actually proud of them regardless of the show he’d put on for the cameras…

But how was Vanya to know about any of that…she had never been included enough to know that dad was a massive dick, even to his supposed favorites. 

The more that Charlie thought about it, the more she realized she couldn’t actually be mad at her sister. The Academy had almost 10 years of the spotlight but Vanya was always in the shadows. She had no way of actually knowing the damage she was doing.

It didn’t make anything she wrote any better but Charlie knew she’d reserve judgment till after she’d talk to her. 

She owed it to her sister — even if they weren’t giving the same courtesy.

She just hoped she could talk some sense into her brothers — they weren’t going to like any of this.

* * *

Charlie woke up to the sun streaming across her face from her living room. She had stayed up late waiting for Five — she needed him to catch her up and his plan for the End. It seemed like she fell asleep on her couch waiting for him to come home. She wasn’t surprised — the couch was comfortable and she felt safe with the Green around her.

She stretched on the couch a little more and settled in. She didn’t feel like getting up right away. As she closed her eyes, she angled her body to get some more sunshine, allowing it to warm her to her bones. As she did, she smiled a little. It was a small joke from their childhood — that Charlie could be nourished by the sunlight like her plants were. 

Mom had told her she just had poor circulation so she was always a little colder than her siblings. Charlie had solved that issue by staying in the sunshine whenever she could — and when her siblings found it funny, she leaned into it. It was just a small thing but it made her siblings happy. She’d do anything to make them happy.

Eventually, she gave a deep sigh and heaved herself from her spot. She knew she would have a busy day and needed to get a start on it. As she was getting her breakfast ready for the day, she frowned out the window - she didn’t think it was supposed to rain today but the weather forecast had been wrong all week.

As she locked up her apartment, she went down to the main floor to gather some food. If she knew Five at all, he would be running on almost empty and while dad had prepared them to fight in sub-optimal conditions like that — he was now dead and couldn’t control them anymore. She went into the back room and grabbed a backpack from her Homeless Bags, shoving some children’s clothes for Five. She’d never tell him that they came from the kids’ section of the store but they’d be the only ones that would fit.

It was completely ridiculous that he was still running around in the Academy uniforms. Charlie knew that only Luther still kept his — the rest had destroyed them on their way out the door.

She brought the bag back out to the Tree and filled up the empty space with baggies of nuts and some loose apples and carrots. They were Five’s favorite when they were kids and she hoped he hadn’t changed enough that he wouldn’t eat them now.

Finally packed with everything she thought she’d need for a day of dealing with Hargreeves Family Bullshit, Charlie left the Flower Shop to track down Five.

* * *

Allison was frowning down at her plate. After her discovery the night before, she and Luther spent most of the night going over the tape again and again and again. She was tired of trying to find ways to either blame Mom for what happened to Dad or to absolve her of her actions.

They had left the security room to find Mom, trying to get some answers about that night.

And Mom couldn’t give them any of the answers they needed. Instead, she was more focused on making them so breakfast - which looked delicious.

“We need a family meeting. We need to decide what to do with Grace.” Luther interrupted her thoughts.

“With Mom.”

Luther sighed but agreed, “with Mom.”

“Well, you can collect our brothers and I’ll gather our sisters.”

“Why do you get the easy job?” Luther was almost whining and Allison didn’t blame him but no way was she going to try to track down their brothers if had a different option.

He shut up quickly at her look.

“I guess I’ll be looking for our brothers. Any suggestions on where to start?”

“Well Five did stay here last night and I think Klaus might have as well. So 2 out of 3?”

He just sighed again. She laughed at him but didn’t offer to go after them herself. She was going to enjoy the time she had with her sisters this morning — much less annoying.

* * *

“Do you seriously still not understand the chain of custody? If you touch it, I can’t use it.”

Diego smiled to himself just the smallest bit. As much as he loved helping people, Eudora made his day so much better whenever she appeared — even if it was only to yell at him. 

The smile fell off his lips at the sight of the bullet though — that particular kind was manufactured in the 1960s so he was confused why it was in a recent shootout in 2019.

He lifted his hands to show off the gloves he carries with him — Diego didn’t like the Police Academy, but he remembered much of the policies and procedures they had drilled into his head. And he made sure to follow them whenever he was working closely with the police. He didn’t want to ruin Eudora’s career as much as he believed she’d like it so much more doing it his way.

“Let me save you some time running ballistics. These nine-millimeters haven’t been manufactured since 19-”

“1963. Odd, I know. Matching casings were found at a murder scene last night. Ishmael’s Towing.”

Diego followed Eudora as she started to move away from the crime scene, focusing on what she was saying.

“The driver?”

“Found him hanging from the ceiling. Looks like he must have known something after all.”

“It’s a shame nobody told you to go talk to him,” Diego tried not to brag too much but it was hard not to sometimes. He knew that the driver would have important information and he had told her as such — if only they would listen to him occasionally. He smirked at Eudora’s look of irritation. 

“In the span of 24 hours, I’ve had attacks in three different places across town. Whatever this is, whoever this is, they’re not slowing down. So, if you really give a shit and you’ve got any fresh ideas, I’m all ears.”

Diego had to give her a fond look at that. He loved her for her heart. She adored the city so much she’d ask him for help — even if he didn’t follow the rules.

“The guy’s kid, in the doughnut shop?”

“I’ve got units tracking the extended family in case anyone goes after him.”

“Well, this place must have surveillance footage.”

“No, it doesn’t exist. The first unit on the scene clocked two shooters fleeing the premises, wearing, get this creepy kids’ masks.” Eudora sounded completely done with the case.

Diego gave a deep sigh. He didn’t know when the city decided to go completely crazy but he was worried. He wondered how much extra time it would take if he added Charlie’s shop and Vanya’s apartment to his route. The rest of his siblings were staying at the Mansion and were protected there but not his sisters. He absentmindedly decided to do a daytime run of the path as he answered Eudora’s non-question.

“This city is really going to shit, huh?”

* * *

Five grimaced as he ran the needle through his arm. He couldn’t believe that he let those two get the jump on him like that. He really was getting old if Hazel and Cha-Cha got the better of him. And of course, the only band-aids that were in the house had childish trains on them. Trains! Of all things. 

_ 6 more days then he’d be dead or drunk. _

He wiped the blood off his wound, dressed once more in the awful Academy uniform, finished packing his back, and opened his window. Normally he’d either Jump or take the front door, but he needed to conserve his energy and that meant no Jumping or aggravating talks with his siblings. He just knew that they’d have a load of stupid questions for him that he didn’t have the time to answer them.

Of course, it was his luck that Klaus was dumps-  _ dumpster diving?!? _ Why was this his life and why did he want to come back and save his siblings again?

A flash of Luther’s hand outstretched to pull him up; the glint of Diego’s knives killing the men attacking him; the feeling of Allison holding him up when his repeating Jumps left him weak; Klaus’ babbling a comforting background noise; he and Ben curled up in the library together; the flicker of Vanya’s uncertain smile; the sight of raspberries growing up between his bed and the wall when Dad was being stingy with the food as a lesson.

He sighed deeply. He could try lying to himself all that he wanted to but of course, he was going come back for them. They were the only things that kept him going all those years. 

He ignored that thought — again — and proceeded to ignore Klaus’ inane muttering as well. Five didn’t have time for him right now.

“I’d ask what you’re up to, Klaus, but then it occurred to me…I don’t care.”

“Hey!” Klaus laughed as he moved to the edge of his dumpster, “you know there are easier ways out of the house buddy?”

“This one involved the least amount of talking. Or so I thought.”

“Hey, hey, hey, so…You need any more company today? I could, uh…clear my schedule.”

“Looks like you’ve got your hands full.”

“Oh, this? No, no. I can do this whenever. I’m just-”

Five rolled his eyes when Klaus slipped and fell back into the trash. 

“I just misplaced something. That’s all,” Klaus’ voice echoed out from the dumpster. “Oh! Found it! Thank God!”

Five grimaced slightly as he watched Klaus take a bite of a half-eaten bagel. He was completely certain that that bagel wasn’t Klaus’. He couldn’t say too much, however. He’d eaten much worse in the apocalypse. 

He had saved Charlie’s food for as long as he could — her fruits and vegetables always lasted longer than normal — but eventually, he finished them and had to struggle to find food.

Now, though? Klaus had the option to not eat that but decided to do so anyway. 

“Delicious.”

“I’m done funding your drug habit.”

With that, he turned and walked away. He didn’t need Klaus for what he had planned for today and he knew that Klaus had the singular habit of extending conversations to longer then they needed to be. 

As he walked down the alley, he spotted a large van parked at the end. That was exactly what he needed.

He thought about picking Charlie up as he started the engine and made his way out of the alley — he wanted some intelligent conversation and maybe a second set of eyes.

* * *

Klaus ignored Ben’s judgmental stare boring a hole in the side of his head as he spat out the bite of bagel he’d taken. He’d had enough of that through the years that it was second nature.

What wasn’t second nature was ignoring the peach growing into existence right in front of him. 

He beamed though! Only one person could do that and right now she was his favorite sibling. He turned and spotted her coming down the alley from the opposite direction cranky Five had left in.

“Schwester! Beloved Charlie, you’ve blessed me with a delicious peach but do you think I could get some apples as well? I’ve been having the craziest cravings for them lately and-” 

His sentence was cut off when Charlie, the darling dear, grew some apples and shoved one in his mouth. He just took a bite from it, chewed, and swallowed. He may not have been the smartest of the bunch but he knew better than to anger Charlie girl. He remembered Spring of ‘03. Plus he wasn’t going to waste an apple. He hadn’t been lying when he said he was really craving one. He packed up all the newly grown fruit and stored it away in his various pockets. He wasn’t going to waste any of the food that she grew — she had a talent for it, after all the practice she had when they were young. 

As he was chewing, he flapped his ‘hello’ hand at her and felt warm when she repeated the gesture. 

“As much as I love you dear schwester, I can probably guess you’re looking for snarky little Five?”

When she nodded, Ben’s comment of “why isn’t she actually talking? I haven’t heard a word from her yet,” was only barely heard as he gave Charlie directions on where their smallest brother left to.

When she left to follow Five, she first leaned over and gave him a faint kiss on the cheek. 

What a treasure she was. He finished up the apple and turned to continue his dumpster dive. 

He had to find that stupid book.

* * *

Five made it to the end of the next block before the passenger side door was opened and a bag was tossed at him. He had spotted Charlie’s distinctive hair when he glanced right earlier so he was too worried about what was in the bag but he still winced a little when it hit him. He reached into the bag as he made a right turn and laughed a little when he grabbed an apple. He shot Charlie a glance and a small smile, which she returned before he focused again on the road. He wasn’t going to try having a conversation with her until he could give her his full attention. 

As he pulled up across from Meritech, he sat back a little in his seat and fully opened up the backpack. It was stuffed full of easy to eat food that Charlie had Grown for him as well as a change of clothing in his size.

“Trying to tell me something?”

**_Just that you look like an idiot roaming about in that stupid Academy uniform._ **

“Well tell me what you really think, then.”

**_Tell me what to watch for and go change in the back._ **

He made sure she could see him roll his eyes but started to tell her about Meritech and everything he had managed to find out about it yesterday. He was startled when he heard a croaking sound come from the front seat. His head popped out of the pullover and glanced at his sister. She was laughing. Huh. He finished changing, glad to be out of the uniform, ignoring the warm feeling that was growing in his chest.

They spent a couple of minutes catching each other up on what happened since he left her at the Academy when he left with Klaus before Charlie shifted to look fully at him. He gave her his attention and waited for what she had to say.

**_I’m gonna head home. There’s a couple of paperwork things that popped up yesterday that I need to deal with, then I might make my way back here or to the Academy. I have a feeling that the house is going to be the center for everything this week. Make sure you eat everything I packed for you, ok?_ **

“You know I’m older than you right? Like decades older than you?”

**_Like that’s gonna stop me._ **

She reached over and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze that he reciprocated before she left the van.

Five watched her walk away for a while before he once again focused on his mission. He would only admit it to himself but damn was he glad to be home.

* * *

Vanya didn’t really know what she was doing here — visiting Leonard at his store. Being with Leonard at all really. But as she gazed around at all the beautiful wood carvings, she gave a slight smile. They really were gorgeous. She took a closer look at the smaller figurines he had placed on the shelves. 

One of them took her back to her childhood. It was a small bench with some flowers placed at the base of it — it was nothing too special but it reminded her strongly of some of the happiest days she could remember.

Charlie was always found outside, whenever she had the chance. Mom had even joked sometimes that Charlie was more plant-like then they thought — that she could gain her energy from the sun in the same way her beloved plants could. The seven of them laughed at that a little but it was true. She was at her happiest when she was outside surrounded by the Green she grew and the sun that nourished them.

The one memory Vanya was thinking of though — it was all of them outside. They were probably thirteen years old and Dad was away on a business trip — he’d even taken Pogo with him so it was just the eight kids and Mom. They had free run of the house and light schooling, no training to speak of. That particular day, Vanya remembered, it was blue skies and sunshine. It was special because the rest of the week it had been pouring buckets — they had been stuck inside and left to entertain themselves with what they could find in the various corners and cracks that the mansion had. But that day; the sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, and the birds were singing. Mom had let them sleep in and had agreed to allow them to eat outside for both lunch and dinner. 

And during the afternoon, Charlie had Grown the most beautiful garden the rest of them had ever seen. There were flowers bigger than her head with colors she didn’t think possible. And the smells! Oh, every next step brought a new smell and they were all glorious. Charlie had Grown the various flowers into amazing shapes and structures but Vanya’s favorite were the benches found right in the middle of the garden. Created from some sort of vines and trees, there were four of them big enough for three people each. Charlie had also grown their favorite fruits and veggies, even branching into nuts, all over the backs of the benches so they could snack as much as they wanted too. 

As much as Mom loved them, she had a strict order to not feed them too much. But with Dad and Pogo gone, Mom had taken to turning the other way so she never saw it when Charlie Grew them more and more treats to eat.

The eight of them had laughed and played and joked with each other all day, showing off their powers — they’d even convinced her to bring down her violin to play for them. Vanya knew she wasn’t very good yet, not at that age and only having been playing for a couple of months but when she played that afternoon…she was on top of the world. It was the best concert she’d ever given and she didn’t think she’d ever be able to top it.

They had fallen asleep outside that night, under the stars with blankets made of grass, curled up together. 

It was one of Vanya’s most cherished memories — she didn’t even place it in her book; she didn’t want anybody to be able to ruin it.

And one little wood carving managed to bring back that sense of happiness and contentedness that had been missing from her life — only weeks later Five disappeared and the home felt a little more like a house.

She left Leonard’s shop that day with the little violin player and the garden bench.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so incredibly sorry about how long this has taken to get out. first I lost interest in writing the story, then I was sucked into writing for season 2, then I got about half done with this episode and hit a block - I've haven't been able to type any more then 10 words and like how they sound for Charlie since the middle of August.
> 
> here's the first part of episode 3 and my promise - I'm not done writing this, I'm just struggling. I'm probably going to be shortening the chapters and extending the chapter count, allowing myself to break up the episodes to make them more manageable to write
> 
> also a very special shout out to @Caitlyn Vera who unknowingly kicked my butt into gear to get this out to you -- thank you very much

**Author's Note:**

> i've got most of this fic planned out but almost none of it written! you can find me at my Tumblr @ thewavereturnstotheocean - come talk to me - yell at me about the Hargreeves


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